The hard core of Podemos closes ranks with its emblematic law in the Government

From the general secretary, Ione Belarra, to the parliamentary spokesperson, Pablo Echenique, including other leaders such as the organization secretary, Lilith Verstrynge, and senior Ministry officials such as Victoria Rosell, Ángela Rodríguez and Isa Serra, have defended in the middle of the barrage of criticism that the law is well done and that, if there is a problem, it is the interpretation of some judges who are described generically as “sexist”.

In defense of the law, both from Podemos and from Equality, it is argued, on the one hand, that it is a text that passed through the eyes not only of Irene Montero’s team but also of the Ministry of Justice in particular and of the Government as a whole , in addition to all the parliamentary groups, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Fiscal Council or the Council of State. But judges are also heavily attacked with accusations of even breaking the law. “What is happening here is that there are judges who are not complying with the law. It has happened to us with the visitation regimes for abusers in the Childhood Law and now it also happens to us with the law only if it is yes ”, Irene Montero herself opened fire on Wednesday morning.

That path of head-on collision with the judicial career was also followed by the secretary of state, Ángela Rodríguez. “How do we have the nerve to say that this is a problem of the Ministry of Equality? The problem is one of interpretation of the Penal Code. The United Nations says that in Spain judges have no training in gender matters, which is a shame. Form yourselves, judges, form yourselves,” Rodríguez asked during an appearance in Congress. A line also followed by leaders such as Ione Belarra, Isa Serra, Pablo Echenique or by the former leader Pablo Iglesias.

However, and despite the fact that the position within Podemos is publicly monolithic (not so in Unidas Podemos, where the comunes, Izquierda Unida or Yolanda Díaz have distanced themselves from criticizing the judicial career), there are also dissenting voices within of the Coordination Council who privately believe that prudence has been lacking. Those voices that do not share the communicative management of this crisis do support the substance and form of the law, although they believe that the accusation that all judges are sexist has been a mistake.

Other spaces on the left have also spoken out regarding the application of the law. The leader of Más Madrid, Mónica García, expressed that, in her opinion, the central government should “rectify” and “change” a law that “opens a door that was not wanted to be opened.” “When you make a law with an intention, in the same way as when you apply a treatment and the side effects are not what you expected and it is not in accordance with the spirit of the law, I think the law should be changed; the same as when changing treatment or dose. A door has been opened that did not want to be opened, ”she declared. Some changes that the ERC spokesman in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, also requested on his social networks: “Between Irene Montero and some captious judges and some heartless lawyers, I am perfectly clear who I am going with. That being said, to amend what needs to be amended so that it does not happen again, ”he published.

“Nobody said anything”

From Equality they insist that no ministry or institution “said anything” regarding the downward revision of the minimum sentences. Sources from Irene Montero’s department explain that, in fact, “in the reform of the criminal code we had a different opinion from the Ministry of Justice and their criteria ended up being imposed.” These same sources recall that the proposal by Irene Montero’s team also contemplated a reduction in the maximum sentences, but that the team of then-minister Juan Carlos Campo was insistent on meeting the request of the General Council of the Judiciary. Something that Equality accepted. “And nobody said anything about the minimum or the temporary provision because it was not necessary, as evidenced by what is happening in the La Rioja Court,” the ministry insists.

This same Thursday and after the harsh accusations against the judges, Minister Irene Montero met in the Senate with the president of the General Council of the Judiciary, Rafael Mozo, and with the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, during the Congress of the Observatory against Gender Violence. In his speech, Montero avoided on this occasion the reference to the machismo of the judges, although he did highlight the “fierce resistance” to the “unstoppable change” in the fight for women’s rights, as well as the need for training of workers of Justice, in reference to the recommendations of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. From her team they value the line marked by the President of the Government of waiting for the “doctrination to be unified” and underline the importance of what both the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor’s Office indicate in this regard.

Precisely this Thursday, the Prosecutor’s Office itself launched the monitoring of the cascade of reductions in sentences for sex offenders after the entry into force of the ‘only yes is yes’ law. In a letter, the chief prosecutor of the Technical Secretariat requested information from prosecutors throughout the country about these procedures. The Prosecutor’s Office is now preparing to analyze the impact of the law and the review procedures put in place and starts “a follow-up of judicial decisions that mean a reduction in the sentences imposed”, reports Alberto Pozas.